Oral Cancer
Oral cancer has now become the seventh most common cancer in the world. Regular check ups with your dentist are crucial in the early detection of oral / mouth cancer.
Dentists are experienced to detect any changes and/or uncommon findings in your oral cavity. Oral cancer cannot be prevented but each patient can reduce the risk of oral cancer, some examples of different activities to help reduce the risk are:
- Stop smoking, any tobacco products including vaping can cause harm to your body including increasing your risk of cancer.
- Excessive alcoholic use can also increase your risk of cancer.
- SPF can help reduce the risk as it is a barrior to the sun’s rays.
- Eliminate any sharp teeth, sharp fillings and oral toxins to the mouth also.
A patient of ours had an examination appointment, when the patient arrived, she had complained of a mouth ulcer that had been mildly painful and had not resolved itself in the past two weeks. Our doctor examined the ulcer and because of the locality and the amount of time the ulcer was present he referred our patient to a specialist as an urgent case.
After a biopsy, the findings were that of squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity, because our patient has scheduled the appointment with us when they did, the cancer was caught early and treatment was successful. Our patient regularly comes back for visits and is extremely grateful to our doctor.